


However far away

by denouement



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29493942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denouement/pseuds/denouement
Summary: "Claire, almost at 12 years old, was entering some weird stage where she now found everything her parents did kindalame. This had been a huge blow to Jane’s ego, and more than once at night, after the kids had gone to sleep, Lisbon had to comfort him about the fact that their daughter was just growing up, and that he hadn’t become a boring old man.Who knew that what would bring Patrick Jane to his knees would be his daughter becoming a teenager."or,A summer vacation in California, in the future of the Lisbon-Jane family.
Relationships: Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	However far away

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This was just something very silly that was born out of a twitter conversation. It's a very unpretentious piece, so go in knowing that hehe. All mistakes are mine. I hope it makes yall smile as you read it :) (also on ffnet, under denxuement)
> 
> Title is from the song Lovesong by the cure (and the complete phrase goes "However far away, I will always love you", hehe)

Trying to get a 11 and a 7 year old to behave around in an airport was not easy, but it was  _ definitely _ easier than when they tried it when the kids were 6 and 3. That time had ended with a moratorium on all traveling for the next two years, especially since Jane himself became like a child the moment their family started getting ready for vacation. 

This once was pretty much the same on Jane’s end, but Claire, almost at 12 years old, was entering some weird stage where she now found everything her parents did kinda  _ lame _ . This had been a huge blow to Jane’s ego, and more than once at night, after the kids had gone to sleep and only Luke had wanted to be tucked in and Claire refused, Lisbon had to comfort him about the fact that their daughter was just growing up, and that he hadn’t become a boring old man. Secretly, she had to hold back very hard from laughing at the size of the pout Jane usually sported in these moments. 

Who knew that what would bring Patrick Jane to his knees would be his daughter becoming a teenager. 

“MOM!”

Lisbon got brought out of her reverie by Luke’s angry voice. She looked up and saw Claire, sitting, holding the tablet the kids shared to play games during car trips and airport situations to keep them… mostly under wraps. The combination of the Lisbon and Jane genes made their children forces to be reckoned with, even if both of them had really, really different personalities. Claire was extremely charming when she wanted to be and so creative, but she also had a short temper and could be extremely naive from time to time. Luke, on the other hand, was a total goofball, sweet, kind but with a sharp artistic eye and manipulation skills that rivaled Jane’s. 

Before either of the kids were born, Jane and Lisbon had had a big conversation on what they wanted to pass along and teach them, and both of them decided that Jane would only teach the kids any of skills when they were old enough to understand how to properly treat people and to understand how, why and where Jane himself had learned about these things. They had, of course, always been open about their past, but they also knew that the children could learn the truly harrowing parts of it all once they had already experienced more of the world themselves. So, it was quite telling that with no training whatsoever in Jane’s mental tricks, Luke was already proving to be quite skilled at people-reading. 

That was, with everyone  _ except _ his sister. Luke and Claire were fiercely protective over each other, and more often than not Claire would boss her brother around, to his utter annoyance. But there was absolutely no one who could get under his skin quite like Claire. They were both extremely smart, and all that put together made them a great dynamic duo, whom Lisbon and Jane had to bail out from the Principal’s office more than once, but also made them clash very often. 

“What’s wrong, Luke?” 

Claire huffed and rolled her eyes before her brother even started talking. Lisbon raised her eyebrows. She knew this routine way too well. She braced herself 

“Claire won’t let me play! It’s my turn now!”

“No, it’s not,  _ Lucas.  _ It’s not my fault you suck.” 

“I played for, like, 30 seconds! How is that fair!” 

“Suck it up, life is not fair.”

“Hey!” Lisbon finally managed to get a word in. If she let it continue, they’d spend the next 30 minutes in an endless discussion that would result in one of them crying, or probably both. “Claire, you know better than to speak like that.”

“Sorry, mom.” Claire said, sulking in her chair already. 

“You know your brother wants to play just as much as you, right? If he’s so bad he loses within 30 seconds, you gotta let him try again, okay?” 

Lisbon and Claire shared a smile as Luke let out an indignant whiny  _ “Mo-om!”.  _

“Take it here, loser.” Claire said, passing the tablet off to Luke, as Lisbon ruffled his hair. 

A week before, when Jane got asked to consult on a case back in California, Lisbon was afraid that it would throw a wrench on their vacation plans, but Jane convinced her that it would all work out this way. He would just wait for them there, and she would have to bring the kids. She was a bit apprehensive at first, being the first time she traveled alone with the children, even more so since their flight was in the late afternoon, but after 13 years married to Jane, she should know better than to doubt his plans. This was turning out easier than she expected. 

Since Luke had been born, both of them had decided to take jobs that would allow them more time with the children and with each other. Lisbon had gotten promoted to Special Agent In Charge in their Austin office, after Cho got promoted to a Special Agent In Charge position within the FBI National Security Branch. Last she heard, around the previous Christmas, last time Cho had actually come back to visit them, he was in a joint task force with the CIA overseas. 

Jane had kept his status as a consultant, now choosing which cases he would take, sometimes traveling across the country to aid the ones he found particularly interesting. But the thing that he loved doing the most - Lisbon could tell by the amount of plans, books on the subject and notebooks filled to the brim at his desk on their work space back at home - were his classes. He had become quite the lecturer, spending a couple weeks at Quantico every semester to teach a class at the Academy. He also held a seminar at the Austin field office once a year, one that got so well known that law enforcement from all over the country came to take, some even more than once. He would also sometimes give guest lectures at the local University, in the Law department. Lisbon was actually quite impressed when she went there a couple years back, to see what Jane could possibly be teaching law students, to find out that he had pulled out a mock trial and was basically teaching a bunch of 20 something year olds how to better argue their case. That was one thing that almost everyone who attended any of Jane’s seminars, lectures or classes could always agree: it was always interesting and it did its job. 

The rest of the trip passed without a hitch, both children being out like a light by hour 1 of the flight, so Lisbon mostly enjoyed the time to sit back and relax. Jane would be waiting for them at the airport in San Francisco, and she couldn’t wait to see his pretty face. Long gone was the time Lisbon would be ashamed to admit how much she missed Jane when he traveled alone, especially after the one time she had a complete meltdown when she was 5 months pregnant with Luke and he had kicked for the first time and Jane wasn’t there to experience it, because he had been gone for the week for a case in Louisiana. Lisbon was still a bit ashamed of it, but since then, Jane always made sure to be the one to bring up the fact he missed her, so that she wouldn’t feel too bad. 

At first, things in their relationship had progressed so fast that Lisbon was worried that they’d clash. But mostly, they seemed to fit really, really well together. And the parts that didn’t, they talked about it and sorted out. After a few initial bumps along the road, their relationship had been… amazing, for lack of a better word. Of course, they fought sometimes, Jane still got on her last nerve often enough, and when they eventually worked together, she still ended up taking the fall for some of his shenanigans, even if they were so few and far in between now. But they also talked, they opened up, they strengthened their bond even more than Lisbon thought possible. The friendship they always shared was still there, and it created such a solid ground for their trust, camaraderie and companionship, that the romantic part of it all seemed to feel just  _ right _ . Even after all this time, or especially because of it, Jane was her best friend, her confidant, her lover, her husband. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Once they landed, Lisbon slowly woke the children, helped them each get their bags and wrangled her family in search of their missing member. 

It didn’t take long to find him. Jane was waiting for them on the other side of the gate, a blinding smile lighting up his face the moment he saw them. Lisbon would never get tired of that, of how happy Jane was, of seeing how utterly complete he seemed to feel in his role in their life. Knowing that she was a part of that always brought a surge of love and warmth for these people that she considered  _ hers _ that she could barely contain. 

The kids ran off after seeing him, a chorus of “Dad”s being yelled as they went. Jane kneeled to hug them both, kissing both on their head as they started immediately filling him in on their week. Jane listened as if starved, only taking his eyes off of the children to look up at her once she caught up with them, and give her one of the smiles that still made her go weak at the knees. 

“Hey, handsome.”

Jane’s smile just grew as he got up to give her a quick peck on the lips. The silence that fell over the two kids, was broken the next second Luke. 

“Gross!” 

“Can you guys kiss later? I’m  _ starving _ .” Claire said, already pulling her mom and dad to the exit. 

“Well, Princess, you’re in luck cause I know the best place for us to get burgers here.” 

Lisbon smiled as she followed after her family to their rented car.

* * *

After dinner, they bundled the kids into the car, made sure all the baggage was safely tucked away, and started the two hour-ish drive to Monterey. They rented an Airbnb close to the beach to make the trek there easier for them and the kids. They planned to spend the next 10 days in a decadent way, either at the beach or on some other adventure that Jane had for sure prepared for them. 

Lisbon had decided to completely let Jane take over the planning of their vacations whenever they went anywhere that wasn’t to visit her family. Their Chicago trips were different from all the other vacations they had partaken in over the years: Lisbon would be a pile of nerves just thinking of wrangling a whole clan of Lisbons plus their little Lisbon-Jane family and making sure that everyone came out of it alive. So far, so good, but Jane knew well enough to not step on her toes when Lisbon went into full contention mode due to having to deal with her brothers. 

Otherwise, though, Jane loved planning their trips, and Lisbon honestly loved letting him do it. One thing that she had come to truly embrace now that she was (usually) in on the gag was his resourceful nature and his unpredictability. Every day with him was a new adventure, and when left with time and a little wiggle room, Jane came up with what ended up being some of the most memorable moments Lisbon had in her life. She had no idea how he managed to do it, but Jane always seemed to find the best places to stay at, to eat, and the nicest entertainment in town. Plus, the smile that lit up his face every time he got it right and he saw how happy his family was due to his shenanigans warmed Lisbon’s heart so much that she was afraid her insides would melt. 

Arriving in the house, Lisbon helped Jane take the kids to their room. Both of them were asleep already, and wrangling them out of the car with Jane’s bad back was a bit of work. But they did it, settling them down in bed, tucking them in, and then taking all the baggage out of the car. Once everything was ready, they sat down on the living room couch, sharing a glass of wine, Lisbon on her phone, letting everyone know that they had all arrived safely. Her feet were on Jane’s lap and he slowly ran his hand up and down her leg, as far as he could reach. She put her phone down and looked up at him with a smile. 

“How did the case go?” 

“Easy. It was the husband, like I had told them on the phone. Came all this way just to put a few ducks in a row to get a confession, really.” 

“God forgive them for making the great Patrick Jane come all this way for nothing, huh?” Lisbon teased, sipping her wine. 

Jane rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not that, woman. I’d just have preferred if we could have made this trip together. How was it, by the way?” 

“Way better than I was expecting. Except for a fight at the airport, stuff went mostly okay. Apparently without your presence they’re not even half as prone to getting into trouble.” 

Jane’s smile at that was almost blinding. 

“They do get that from me, don’t they?” 

“Yes they do.” 

After finishing their wine and a quick make out session, Jane and Lisbon went to bed. The next day was gonna be full, and they could both use a good night’s sleep. Lisbon slept mostly fine, except for the eventual stress over a case, but Jane, she was well aware, had a terrible time sleeping alone. One of the things she had come to realize very early in their relationship, even if he never said a word about it, was that he liked sleeping on couches so much because they were  _ small _ . You couldn’t feel the cold of the other side of the bed, the emptiness of what used to be there if there was no  _ space _ for it. That and the fact that he enjoyed sleeping with some sort of background noise, which had gotten them into a very big argument about having a TV in their bedroom when Jane was first designing the cabin. 

So when they laid down in bed, Lisbon quickly wrapped herself around him. Jane laid his head on her chest, and she could feel his whole body slowly relax with the breath he let out, as if he had finally arrived home. 

* * *

Jane and Lisbon were awoken the next morning by the sound of excited children running around. Jane lazily smiled before even opening his eyes, as Lisbon jumped off the bed and started muttering about making sure the kids wouldn’t break anything in the house that would mean they’d have to pay a tremendous fine. Before she could leave the bedroom, though, the next time she passed by the bed, after already having dressed in a bathing suit and a dress, he pulled her to him, to kiss her. Lisbon felt disoriented for a few moments and Jane just smiled at her dazed look. 

“Good morning.” 

Lisbon hit him on the shoulder and left instead of answering, already directing the kids to get dressed and to get their beach apparatus ready, while their dad went to the store to get them some breakfast. 

45 minutes later, Jane had arrived back from his grocery run with enough snacks to feed an army and all the ingredients for an awesome pancake breakfast. 

“Finally, dad! I thought you had gone to grind the pancake flour yourself.” Claire said, already sitting down at the table. 

“Hey, little lady, how about you help your old man put the groceries away, huh? You too, Luke.” Jane said as he dropped all the bags on the counter. 

Both kids were quick to help, and if Claire huffed like she was doing so only under extreme duress, everyone acted like they didn’t see it. 

“We are feeding ourselves and how many more families?” Lisbon said once she entered the kitchen and saw the amount of groceries spread out on the counter. 

“We are feeding our two bottomless pits here and their mom, of course. I know my audience, and  _ everyone _ in this family has a huge sweet tooth. I was not gonna leave in the middle of our beach day to get  _ someone  _ more cookies.” 

Lisbon rolled her eyes as she started putting away in their beach bags the snacks that were going with them. 

“I was pregnant when that happened. It was almost ten years ago, Jane. Let it go.” 

Both kids snickered quietly, as they looked at each other, having heard some sort of this same argument several times before. There were topics that always got their parents bickering for the next hour or so, no matter what, and this was definitely one of them. 

Before they could get caught up in their own little bickering bubble, Luke cleared his throat. 

“So… dad? The pancakes?” 

“...Right.” 

Lisbon chuckled as she went to get plates for them all. Leave it to their kids to clock them like that. 

After a very eventful breakfast, full of bickering, joking and laughter, and the very difficult task of trying to get not only the children but also Jane to put on some sunscreen, they finally went to the beach. 

* * *

The first couple of hours passed without any problems. Jane had gone for a short walk when they first arrived while Lisbon stayed with the children, reading a book. The kids were in the ocean, running around and throwing water at each other. At some point Lisbon thought she saw Claire pretending she was some sort of superhero, and then both of them acting like they were fish, or maybe they were mermaids. Who knew. They seemed happy, and that’s all that mattered to her. 

In these quiet moments, Lisbon always made sure to send God a small thankful prayer. She had two beautiful, smart, healthy children, and they were both growing up with so much that both her and Jane never had: a stable home, loving parents, a safe environment for them to choose to be whoever they wanted to be. Lisbon always thought that her job would be the only thing to ever bring her true satisfaction and completion, but, being here right now, seeing that she and Jane had managed to raise these two amazing humans, who were kind and compassionate but also strong willed brought her such a sense of happiness and peace that nothing could ever rival that. 

“Hey, sweetheart. You want to go for a walk or a swim? Want me to stay with the kids?” 

Lisbon had been so lost watching the kids play she didn’t even see Jane arrive. She looked him up and down, finally appreciating her husband’s attire that consisted of only shorts. For a 55 year old, he sure looked good, she thought. He was a little rounder around the belly than he had been 13 years before, but it didn’t make all that much difference. His hair was in disarray, still as blonde and curly as it had ever been, and, honestly, he still looked like he stepped out of some sort of model catalogue. When her eyes finally met his again, a grin was slowly spreading across his face. 

“Enjoying the view?” 

“As a matter of fact, I am. Not my fault you’re looking so good.” 

Jane let out a loud laugh and Lisbon couldn’t help but follow along.

The kids came back from the water as soon as they saw their father, hoping to rope him into taking them deeper into the ocean, but were instead met with a very excited Jane, already setting all the shovels and buckets aside. 

“So, kids, what do you guys say we get started on our very own sandcastle, huh?” 

Claire groaned while Luke just started complaining. 

“We did that last time we came over, dad, and you took like 4 hours to finish. You wouldn’t let us leave.” 

“Well, because it’s a family bonding moment. Besides, what self respecting kid doesn’t love a sandcastle?”

In the midst of complaints, Claire started picking up the buckets while Luke picked up the shovels and they both followed their dad, as he tried to find the perfect spot for their creation. As they left, Lisbon could hear Claire saying “Dad, it’s just a stupid sandcastle!” 

“No, come on, you’ll become masters in no time.” Jane said as he settled a little further from their umbrella, but on a spot still perfectly visible for Lisbon. “You both know you love it.” 

And as usual, Jane was right, and 15 minutes later Claire was already in charge of the design of the towers and how to best create their defenses, already plotting all the types of possible imaginary monsters that could threaten them in their little haven, while Luke and Jane actually worked putting down the foundation for it all. Lisbon, after marking up her book so she wouldn’t lose her page, got up and joined them to help on their little family project. 

Lisbon loved these moments, these memories they were all creating together. It had been many years since Jane had taught her how to create a memory palace, if she so wished, and these were the things she kept there. The way Jane smiled at their children, the way Claire would laugh at something silly that Luke had said and how proud he looked to have made his sister smile. The internal jokes she and Claire seemed to share at the expense of the guys, since their sense of humor were so similar. The exasperated look on Jane’s eyes when all three of them ganged up on him to tease him. The way Jane smiled at her, as if all the love in the world was contained in the space between them. These were the times that, she hoped, all of them would remember fondly in the future. And she hoped against hope that the future would be filled with more and more of these. 


End file.
